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Thursday, March 14, 2013

What turns off your Twitter?

By Andris Bear, Countess of Sass

Yesterday I was driving my mini villains to school and the guy on the radio mentioned a new survey on what turned people off about Twitter and Facebook. Being a social media hooker extraordinaire, I wanted the deets. Below are the top ten things (in random order) that annoy the crap out of your friends and followers.

2. Sharing every meal (pictures) (45%)This just makes me hungry. Which in turn reminds me that I am fat and lazy.
3. Game inviters (37%)THIS. I hope you all choke on your Farmville crops. STOP INVITING ME TO PLAY WITH YOU!

4. Cryptic status writers (43%) Very annoying. Man up and post what is on your mind or cry in the corner and leave us in peace.
5. Checker-inners (share every single place they go to) (26%)Meh. Don't really give a rip.

7. Oversharers (32%)I'm thinking I'm one of these as well. I can feel your death glares. Please stop.
8. Constant engagers (like and comment on everything) (22%)What are you doing on social media if you don't want to be engaged? This makes no sense!

9. Event spammers (25%)Haven't noticed these in my feed. But rest assured I will hate you with impunity should you pop up.

10. Self-promoters (19%)FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, YES! How did this get to the bottom of the list? It is my number one peeve. I don't mind promotion, but if it is all you do?! Get thee behind me, Satan.

There are a couple more on my personal dislike list, but this is the survey's top ten. What do you look for when you follow a Twitter or Facebook feed? What do you prefer to avoid?

31 comments:

Politics and Religion! Don't get me wrong, I'm a very political person in real life. I mean - what DON"T I have an opinion on? I just don't think social media is the place to discuss them. These two topics will turn me off faster than anything else. I have unfollowed or defriended many a time due to these two topics. They're just so divisive and the vitriol coming from some people's keyboards is shocking. Maybe it's easier to post something in frustration on your wall or in a tweet than it would to say to someone's face. But there ARE people on the other end of that post reading those words and then saying "What a jackhole!" (or something similar.)

These two topics are the exact ones I had in mind when I said there are more on my personal peeve list. I'm with you--I have an opinion on everything! But not everyone agrees or wants to know those opinions. I wouldn't mind political posts if they weren't so arrogant and condescending. Most of the time the people posting about their political affiliation think they have the moral high ground and call anyone with opposing views an A-hole. Who needs that? As for religion, I've got mine. I don't need to pass on a chain email or repost your post to give Jesus a high five. And for the love of cheese whiz do NOT preach to me through social media. I will cut you! Ahem.

I totally agree with Ava. 140 characters is long enough to post some incendiary or ranty political comment, but not long enough to make a valid argument or open a worthwhile discussion. These things are close to our hearts - I think people don't realize how personally offensive they are being to likely 50% of their followers. During the election season, I unfollowed people en masse just to keep my heart palpitations at a minimum!

And also the self promoting folks drive me mad. Yes, we all want/need to promote, but lets at least try to keep it to less than 10% of a tweet stream!

Erin, You hit it. The most a person can do in 140 characters is offend and aggravate. There's just no need to do that on social media. As for promotional tweets, those Tweeters get unfollowed as soon as I see the pattern. I don't have time for that!

OMG, yes to all but the food thing. Food and writing are my life LOL I'd add politics and religion. Over promotion and the whole Triberr thing. Third, whining about how crap their life is. Really? Go do that somewhere else. Sometimes, Twitter is very trying lol

Sandra, I avoid watching The Food Network because it makes me ravenous and gives me the false impression I can cook. I can't. And it's just better to accept that and move on. Lol. Oh yes, the whining. I have someone on FB who does that and I want to slap the taste out of her mouth! Umm. That didn't sound very nice of me. ;/

Ava and Deb hit my top peeves. Nothing good comes from Political or Religious posts and I avoid ever mentioning either topic. I don't mind release announcements, but I do mind if that is all someone ever posts. I am horrible with Twitter as far as posting things that are happening or my thoughts, but I do like to be led to a good blog on an interesting or fun topic. I am also guilty of retweeting more than actually posting something original.

Jane,I don't know why politics and religion weren't in the top ten because they're pretty high up on my no-no list. Retweets are fine as long as they're interesting. I just hate being bombarded with boredom! lol.

Ok I'm guilty of posting pics of my scones, not so much my cupcakes. Since coming to the north my cupcakes have not been the same. I think I need some salty sea air or something. Anyways, I don't want to talk politics or religion those tend to be very bad.

I like pictures of food when it looks like art. And I like to see people out doing things. It's fun to see other places. Vacation spots are especially fun to see, but I don't think people should post them until they are back. Vacations should be electronic free, IMO. :)

Politics and religion are up at the top of my list. Immediately DMing me with a link to your book/website/whatever as soon as I've followed you gets you a quick unfollow and a block/spam report. Using my Facebook wall as an ad for your book/website/whatever earns the same. I don't use social media to be spammed or to be bombarded with hateful posts. I've even unfollowed/unfriended good friends because I can't stand the way they constantly talk about politics/religion or constantly spam people with posts about the same book or books. I'm sad to say it, but it won't take much more of that before I follow that same path with a few other friends. I just don't want to deal with it. If you start that garbage when I'm on the phone with you, I'll ask you to stop and then I'll hang up if you don't. If you start it while we're sitting in person, I'll ask you to stop and then I'll leave if you don't. But on social media? Quickest/easiest way to avoid it is just to unfollow.

Oh that's just rude! No one has posted their promotional stuff on my Facebook, but I've had people follow me on Twitter with the command to follow them back. Excuse me? Obviously they didn't know me well enough to realize that will guarantee I never do. I get mad when spammers post bogus comments on the blog. Like we don't know what they're up to?! Ack! Makes me want to Homer choke them. ;]

Samantha, I hate those "shame" posts! If you have a child who was born from the unfertilized egg of a chinchilla raptasaurus and you LOVE them, make this your status for one hour. Well of course I love my raptasaurus chinchilla! But she doesn't need me to flood Facebook to know this! Some people make me so violent.

I completely agree with everyone else that politics and religion are at the top of my list too. Why isn't it number one on the list?? But this is my business account. I simply don't think the two should be mixed. However, on my personal page my friends and family and I talk politics all the time. But again, I don't want to alienate any of my readers but more than that, I don't want political tensions to come between myself and those I work with. It's just respectful imho. It's a little different when you're with a group of family who all share your same beliefs. But when you mix with those that don't, it's just better to keep those topics off social media imho.

Other than that, I don't really have any other "hot" buttons but I'm a pretty mellow girl. I just ignore anything that irks me and move on. It's kept my blood pressure low and for that I am eternally grateful lol.

Yeah, politics and religion, not my author bag, baby. And I remember following one author on Twitter, who every day, a dozen times a day, tweeted buy links to the SAME FLIPPING BOOK. I followed that person for like a month, nothing changed. EVER!

There is something very therapeutic for me about this blog topic. : ) I thought I was the only one social media griping. Let's start with the runners....are you trying to make everyone else feel lazy AND bad about themselves? Nothing makes me feel worse than a mile by mile update on a person's run status. I agree with a lot of the comments here on politics on FB and Twitter. By nature, I'm fascinated by politics and actively interested in it...but keep that confined to my personal accounts, because like Suzie said, it's one thing when you are conversing with family/close friends of shared opinions/values. Election time is always interesting b/c it seems to light up social media where even authors can't help but Tweeting. That, I find myself enjoying. And yes, then there are the constant promoters. I agree with all that's been said on that score!

This past election drove me out of my gourd. I didn't care who the hell was elected by the time it was done as long as everyone shut their frapping traps. Your opinion will not change mine, so PLEASE stop shoving it down my throat! There is a special place in hell for constant promoters. Heehee.